Teacher Planning Guide
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Excursion Planning Guide Contents COVID-19 ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 HOW TO MAKE A BOOKING ................................................................................................................................... 2 PAYMENTS ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 UNSURE HOW MANY STUDENTS ARE COMING? ................................................................................................... 3 PAYMENT METHODS .............................................................................................................................................. 4 CANCELLATIONS AND POSTPONING ...................................................................................................................... 5 REFUNDS ................................................................................................................................................................ 5 TRANSPORT ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 CONDITION OF ENTRY ............................................................................................................................................ 7 TEACHER PLANNING INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................... 8 ON THE DAY- ARRIVING TO THE ATTRACTIONS ..................................................................................................... 8 COLLECTING TICKETS ............................................................................................................................................. 9 GUIDED TOUR TIMES AND WAITING AREA ............................................................................................................ 9 DARLING HARBOUR ATTRACTION MAP ............................................................................................................... 11 WHAT TO BRING .................................................................................................................................................. 12 RISK ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................................................ 12 INSURANCE .......................................................................................................................................................... 13 RATIOS ................................................................................................................................................................. 13 PENGUIN RIDE AT SEA LIFE SYDNEY AQUARIUM ................................................................................................. 14 ACCESSIBILITY ...................................................................................................................................................... 15 TOILETS ................................................................................................................................................................ 15 Excursion Planning Guide COVID-19 Merlin Entertainments is excited to be welcoming back school groups to all our Sydney attractions after the recent government announcement lifting the restrictions placed on schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. As you can imagine, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on all our attractions and temporary changes to our school product offering have been put in place to ensure the safety of all visitors during this pandemic. For all the latest updates regarding school excursions please visit our attraction websites school page and download our COVID safety information sheet or call our bookings team on 1800 195 650. How to make a booking Have a look at the different options available for your visit (self-guided and guided). If you have any questions about your options, please call 1800 195 650. Once you are ready to book, you can book one of the following 3 ways: 1- Call us directly and speak to one of our members in our call centre bookings team on 1800 195 650. 2- Complete an enquiry booking form via our website. Your request comes through to our call centre booking team that will confirm your excursion details by sending a booking confirmation/invoice email or will contact you if alternate arrangements or dates need to be selected. 3- Book online and pay now, this option is available and is the easiest, quickest and most convent way to book for those schools that can pay straight away with a credit card. All group bookings are essential and must be made and paid for in advance two weeks prior to when you wish to visit with your group. Excursion Planning Guide Payments Merlin Entertainments has thousands of visitors each year. To ensure that your school is not delayed unnecessarily all education school bookings must be PRE-PAID prior to attending the excursion date. Your tickets cannot be issued on the day to enter the attraction, so please check with your accounts department and SAN team two weeks prior to your excursion date to ensure payment has been made in time. Groups cannot pay individually nor do we accept payment on the day of your visit. To check your booking and payment details- call our bookings team 1800 195 650 or email [email protected] Unsure how many students are coming? We recommend that you make a booking for maximum number of children you are likely to bring on the day. You can call 1800 195 650 or email [email protected] prior to your booking to amend your student numbers. On the day of the excursion when you are collecting your school group tickets, you will be asked to confirm student numbers entering the attraction. If it is less than expected- a school may request student absent voucher- which allows the absent child to return to the attraction for free with their family on another day. Excursion Planning Guide Payment Methods Preferred payment method for school groups is by Credit card. Credit card payments over the phone by calling 1800 195 650. EFT details for schools wishing to pay this way: Please make sure you use your account booking number as your reference and the name of the attraction you are visiting. The number can be found on your tax invoice/booking confirmation email which starts with ACCC. You can use the following attraction code to let us know which attraction you are visiting. These are: • SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium- SLSA • WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo- WLSZ • Madame Tussauds Sydney- MTS • Sydney Tower Eye- STE Please send your remittance to our Accounts Payable team via email [email protected] Cash or cheques cannot be accepted as payment for school visits. Payment on the day of your excursion can also not be accepted and must be made prior to attending the excursion date. Excursion Planning Guide Cancellations and Postponing Cancellations must be made either via email [email protected] or over the phone 1800 195 650. Cancellations must be made 72 hours prior to excursion date. Any groups that no show without contacting Merlin Entertainments will be charged for the excursion and no refunds will be issued. School groups may move their excursion date if they give Merlin Entertainments 72hr notice prior to their initial excursion date. Excursion dates may be moved within the same calendar year at no additional charge. Refunds Merlin Entertainments does not issue refunds for students who are unable to attend the excursion date once numbers have been confirmed with us. If a school has students that are unable to attend due to sickeness, we will supply the school with absent student vouchers which will allow the student to return to the attraction at a later date for free with their family. Refunds maybe issued if there is an issue with the service or product Merlin Entertainments has promised to deliver. Refunds are done through our admissions team and cannot be issued on the spot. Teachers will need to complete a refund request form and supply relevant documentation needed to process this. Please note a refund can take up to 2 weeks for Merlin Entertainments to process through our system once we have all the required information. Excursion Planning Guide Transport SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium, WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo and Madame Tussauds Sydney are located in the heart of the city in Darling Harbour. The address of the attraction is 1-5 Wheat Road Darling Harbour. Coach If you are travelling to our attraction by private bus, there are 16min pick up/drop off bus bays located on Wheat Road- which position you directly behind the aquarium. It is then a short 2-minute walk to the front of the admission area for all 3 attractions. Train The closest train stations to Darling Harbour are Wynyard or Town Hall Station. To use the train all students will need an opal card to use this service. Contact Transport NSW for more information in regards to purchasing opal cards. From both these stations it is a short 10-20min walk to Darling Harbour- depending on age of student and group size. Excursion Planning Guide Condition of Entry ALL school aged children aged 3-17years must be accompanied by a supervising adult at all times. Schools that fail to inappropriately supervise